Founded in November 1917, the NHL is poised to celebrate its centennial with a host of activities throughout the 2017 calendar year, highlighted by a traveling tour.
“One of the many great things I love about this sport is the history and tradition, and it’s something that is a big part of the game,” said NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman. “Our fans, our players and everyone who works for a team and the league understands and appreciates that, and we’re thrilled to be in a position to celebrate it.”
The NHL will look to celebrate both that history, and what the next 100 years might bring, in one of its biggest activations to date — a traveling tour that will take the NHL brand to every market it plays in.
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A traveling tour anchored by two branded tractor trailers and a synthetic rink will start making the rounds in 2017.
Photo by: NHL |
The tour, which will be headed by two NHL-branded, 54-foot tractor trailers, will visit all 30 existing NHL markets, all NHL tentpole events such as the Winter Classic and All-Star Game, the new expansion team in Las Vegas and potentially other regional big events through the entire 2017 calendar year.
The aim will be to have each truck provide a different experience for fans. The first truck will serve as a walk through the NHL’s history, with both artifacts and trophies, supplemented by digital and interactive content. The second will provide more experiences for fans, including a video screen, a stage for different events and a synthetic rink.
The league aims to not only offer a static experience to each market, but to provide team-specific elements within the two trucks, whether that’s player- and team-specific trophies or historical memorabilia, or using the second truck to supplement what sort of fan experiences teams can already offer.
While the traveling schedule is still being worked on, the tour will be launched Jan. 1 in Toronto at the Centennial Classic outdoor game. It will travel to Los Angeles for the 2017 All-Star Game on Jan. 29, the Stadium Series game in Pittsburgh on Feb. 25, Ottawa in March to celebrate both the 150th anniversary of Canada and the 125th anniversary of the Stanley Cup, as well as for the Stanley Cup playoffs and finals. The goal will be to have the trucks make stops in every team market potentially on weekends, allowing each team to plan content and events around the tour’s visit.
“Our goal is that the truck tour will almost be like a mini fan village in each city for a set amount of time that
hopefully will be complemented with things like ceremonies or celebrations in-arena,” said Steve Mayer, NHL executive producer, programming and creative development. “It’s extremely important that this was not just an umbrella effort, and that this tour is much more of an on-the-ground and a reach-out-and-touch effort for all fans.”
At the All-Star Game, the NHL also will unveil its 100 greatest players of all time, with a gala in Los Angeles that will bring the players together for a televised event that will include a musical performance. The list of current and former players, who are not ranked, was selected by a group put together by the NHL that included hall of fame players, executives and league officials.
Players who played or have history in the league’s markets to the coinciding stop will be involved during the truck tour. Wayne Gretzky will serve as the face of much of the league’s centennial efforts, including these elements.
The league will produce a series of vignettes and special content around each of the players selected, further informing fans of their historical place in the NHL.
While the selection of the top 100 players will not be voted upon, the NHL will look to engage fans around a number of elements. A digital content series roughly titled “My Story” will be launched by the NHL following the release of the 100 player list, which will highlight ties between the generations of players chosen, such as an image of Gordie Howe posing with a then 10-year-old Wayne Gretzky. Fans will be encouraged to share their own moments, which the league will compile through an online portal.
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The tour will stop in every NHL team market and travel to the league’s tentpole events such as the Winter Classic and All-Star Game.
Photo by: NHL |
Mayer said the league has brought on seven additional staffers to work solely on centennial content, and has shifted existing employees to related projects. In addition, the league is working with a number of outside firms on projects related to the centennial.
One of the biggest undertakings is on a four-part documentary series that will look into 25-year blocks of NHL history through the eyes of each of the four producers, who will include a player, a Hollywood director, and a celebrity hockey fan. Mayer said the league is finalizing details on who specifically will be involved. Ross Greenburg, who has collaborated with the NHL on a number of documentary programs, will help to executive produce the entire series.
“We feel that whenever we can involve players, when we can talk about the history of the league and those magical moments, fans really love it,” Mayer said. “But as we look at our plans for the centennial, we don’t just want to do it for older fans, but also for younger fans so that they can also understand the history and pride that we all share, and hopefully add to their love of the game as well.”
Bettman underscored the league’s investment in the yearlong celebration, noting that “it’s nothing we’re going to make money on, but we’re doing to celebrate the sport.”
“It was important that whatever celebration we did also had a connection to the teams and the fans in every market,” he said. “We want to throw a yearlong party that has a lot of things for people to focus on, and appreciate the NHL, our teams and our fans.”
